The best Electronic Music of Q1/Q2-2024

Featuring 33 EPs and albums from January to June

Hi! After a little break, I’m now back with my quarterly new music round-ups here at Infinite Speeds. With this post, I’m catching up on the first half of 2024 with a combined Q1+Q2 round-up of my favorite new electronic music releases. It features 33 EPs and albums from the first six months of 2024, arranged in no particular order. I hope you might find something you like! — Vincent

TWR72 - iOi [OOM Records]

I've always had a certain fondness for the most stripped down, almost perversely functionalist kind of DJ tools, tracks so radical in their single-minded appeal to function that they almost come out of the other end as weirdly avant-garde. The ten tracks that make up the extended digital release of iOi are lean and ascetic even by the standards of the Dutch DJ-tool expert TWR72, eschewing even the usual techno synth riffs one would find in such tracks. Instead, virtually all melodic and harmonic duties are taken over by layers and layers of pitched percussion, making for tracks that are pure exercises in drum programming.

"Ivory" is a great example, a track that starts out with a metallic, bell-like line that is joined by a flurry of hectic and airy percussion; both dancing tango over a foundation of galloping boomy lowend to form a beautifully brutalist techno sculpture. "Pulse" and "Nudge" play around with similar tricks, while tracks like "Rattle", "Unison" and "Shimmer" transform sampled snippets of human voice into yet more percussive elements, because all that exists within the world of these tracks is percussion.

Xenia Reaper - Luvaphy [INDEX:Records]

I have no idea who is behind the Xenia Reaper alias. But whoever that is, they are a master producer because this is simply one of the best sounding records I've heard in a long while. Everything slots together in perfect balance; be it the little digital fragments and noise blips that carefully drift through the vast depths of aural space, the kicks and basses that hit hard with lethal precision, the percussion work that is both agile and thickly textured, or the pads that glow and shine with warmth and light. Everything just feels vast and weightless, but also vibrant and dense, emphatically sounding alive. The track as an organism.

Burnski & Kepler - Follow Me [Constant Sound]

The ever-reliable London house don Burnski is back with another banger EP. My pick here is "Underwater", an uplifting mid-tempo track with a sub-heavy bassline, glassy pads and a seductive, vocal-like hook. The flipside goes a bit darker with the buzzy garage bassline on "Follow Me" and the rudeboy Grime bump of "Frequency".

Angelforces - Spaun [Superpang]

Some of the most fun computer music I've heard in a while. For an experimental record, Spaun is surprisingly flamboyant, going beyond the usual austere academic exercises in feedback and digital noise. "Rave Brain" has fun with a gigantic gabber kick that only appears every other bar and leaves a trail of pitch-shifted digital vapor in its wake. "Beyonsense" sounds like Armin van Buuren on DMT, with its faint trance motifs being run through the chaotic DSP ringer. "Legato Toy Brain" makes use of drastic pitch glides in a way that sounds almost comedic — when's the last time you've heard experimental computer music that was funny? Avant-garde through silliness.

Pye Corner Audio - Acid 1 [Emotional Response]

On this little 303-homage EP, Pye Corner Audio goes straight for those classic acid tones, drenched in reverb and surrounded by a supporting cast of dusty, reduced drums. My favorite here is "Wanna Show U Acid", an oddly heartwarming track that stages a romantic duet between the little silver box and a moody, pitched-down vocal.

1Morning - Magnum Opus [Character]

If you would have told me a few years ago that there would be a revival of full-on-samba-techno, I probably would have laughed. But here we are, it's 2024 and we have records like Magnum Opus, which sounds like it’s been taken straight out of Jeff Mills' ca. 2002-2004 record bag. The appropriately titled "Samba De Verão" is a warm slammer with an entire carnival of percussion, samba samples and piano-like chord stabs. "Flux" goes in a similar direction, with its pressurized rolling bassline, manically chopped vocals and disco string stabs, while "Push" goes all in on the French Touch.

X-Altera - Groundswell [Bopside]

Tadd Mullinix (aka James T. Cotton) is back on his X-Altera alias with an EP of deadly neo-retro jungle tracks. "Run" starts out lush and Detroit-y with warmly oozing pads and flanged breaks, then fades to near silence and breaks down into a killer amen workout, only for the pads to eventually reemerge and bring things home. "Groundswell" is a darker track with lean drum & bass breaks, a massive sub line, scattered remains of disintegrated neuro reeses and shimmering, microtonal synth licks. "Eye Saw It" combines classic half-step tropes with a modern jungle beat, sounding like Loefah ca. 2006 having a go at jungle. Closer "Citybound TV" rounds things off with a downtempo number that reminds me of ca. Artificial Intelligence era Warp.

Dold - Rider [Fuse Imprint]

"Smile" is a deadly track, a lean techno grinder centered around a churning, slightly acidic riff that perfectly captures the earnest, but quick-footed attitude of early Downwards. On the flip, "Rich String" goes deeper while still keeping the tempo high with wide, saturated chords and loosely improvised 909 programming.

Buoyancy - Surfaces [Active Listeners Club]

Glassy structuralist chord exercises from Iran. The SND influence obviously looms large here, but these tracks are significantly less ascetic than anything you'd find in Mark Fell with their sweeping string swells, dramatic bass licks and tranced-out arps — all slathered in mountains of reverb. Surfaces strongly commits to the tight confines of structure in one moment, but then also almost dissolves it all in the very next, continually alternating between stability and instability.

Nondi_ - Tree Festival [HRR]

Nondi_ is currently one of the most uncompromising and idiosyncratic figures among the younger generation of Gen Z producers. On this little two-tracker, "tree festival" combines melancholic IDM arps with a wildly degraded SoundCloud lo-fi beat, sounding equally mournful and manic. "broken future 175" is a bizarro jungle track that contrasts its sonic degradation with a soaring sense of emotion in the form of dramatic strings and aching keys.

Paul St. Hilaire & René Löwe - Faith [Kynant Record]

What can I even say ? Two legends at the absolute peak of their powers. A record that perfectly marries Paul St. Hilaire's unique voice with René Löwe’s singular chord design. One of the greatest dub techno records ever made, now freshly remastered and made available digitally for the first time ever after twenty years.

Seidensticker - “Scribbled” Lowtec Extended Remixes [Workshop]

The latest Workshop comes with a 3x12” of dusty and tracky house constructions with sparse, yet seductive drums, gentle, sun-dried chord motifs and a little bit of occasional vocal melodrama. This is music that always starts right in the middle, just shuffling along at its own medium pace, not in a hurry to end up anywhere in particular — it's about the journey, not the destination.

Brendon Moeller - Vacuum [Samurai Music]

On Vacuum, the deep techno and house veteran Brendon Moeller makes an appearance on drum & bass label Samurai Music with atmospheric techno-bass hybrid tracks that sit somewhere between recent Uk bass and dub techno with deeply stepping subs, gentle pads, sparse and swinging percussion and the occasional dub chord stab reverberating deep into space.

Sunik Kim - Tears Of Rage [ROPE Editions]

Sunik Kim continues to push the boundaries of computer music by untangling it from its academic conventions and established structures. "Tears of Rage" sounds like ... digital birds? Video game sounds from a corrupt save file? Karaoke keytars from hell … — or all of the above all at once? What makes the piece interesting is precisely that indeterminacy of the question mark, the refusal to provide easy answers to what it really is that you are hearing.

Meanwhile, "In Praise of Death / A Thousand Tearz" sounds like if Tiesto had spent time studying at IRCAM, trancing the digital glitch to its emotional breaking point and embracing hints of bad taste in a way that defies conventions. The third piece "Beautiful as the Moon" goes in a different direction entirely, sounding like an algorithmically generated 70s TV theme that approaches the auditory uncanny valley, leading to a playful, but tense sense of unease.

ADMNTi - Vibrations [FUSE London]

Proper modern tech house with a strong Detroit-y feel here. "Infinite Function" starts out thick and pumping, with a meaty bassline and snappy organ stabs. The breakdown opens things up, enveloping the mix in glassy, widely traversing pads that contrasts nicely with the rather lean rhythm section. "Original Sin" really ramps up the Detroit factor with a warbly 303, drama-heavy strings and resonant key swells. Malin Genie’s remix of "Vibrations" goes straight into uber-classic house territory with a phased vintage rhodes, an FM organ lead and a richly saturated 303.

Struction - Basis [Ilian Tape]

DJ Rum is back on his Struction alias for the first time since 2016 here, and it's a banger. Basis consists of rapidly sputtering tracks that are laden with reverb-drenched metallic chords programmed in rolling cadences that aptly balance their hectic movement with a strong sense of controlled structure.

Donato Dozzy - Magda [Spazio Disponibile]

After a string of more experimental albums, Donato Dozzy has finally caved in and is delivering us some major musical fan service with an album that harkens back to the sound of his flawless ca. 2008-2013 run. While Magda doesn't quite reach the heights of an Aquaplano Sessions or Voices From The Lake, it is still a very enjoyable record; a deep and enveloping experience full of lush, calming pads and hypnotic Berlin-School style sequences that evokes the warmth of a lazy summer day at the Adriatic sea.

Gyrofield - The B [VISION]

I tend to not be the biggest fan of hyper-modern sounding drum & bass, since it often seems to me that producers will get lost in the neuro-bass sorcery sauce with this stuff, leading to tracks that are technical marvels but lack any kind of memorable hook. Gyrofield (aka Kiana Li from Hong Kong) stands out in this field since she, aside from also being skilled at all the tricks of the trade, really knows how to craft a proper earworm. "Femme Fatale (Rolling Mix)" is simply one of the most fun drum & bass tracks I've heard in a long time with its lean, stepping breaks, addictive reverb-drenched vocal chops, massive walls of bass, satisfying reese licks and dramatic FX fills.

2302 - Untitled [Heaven Smile]

This appears to be the new project of the low-profile Dutch producer Mammo, who was also behind the mysterious Nduja label. "- -" is a ghostly number that sounds like the skeletal remnants of a disco-house track that had half of its tracks deleted. "Aliasing" hones in on a digitally degraded loop with a gritty bassline, skittish noise figures and quirky chord fragments. "Hold 3" is quiet and haunting, with a faint, inharmonic FM pad and howling noise that evokes gusts of wind sweeping over majestic cliffs. The closer "Windmill" oozes with warmth over a pitch-black ground with sparse, yet lush pads, worming basses and high-pitched bleeps that recall some species of fantastic birds.

Convextion - R-CNX2 [A.R.T.less]

Another recent must-have reissue. This double-pack combines two of the most sought after Detroit techno EPs of all time and makes them available digitally for the first time ever. Even thirty years later, a track like "Miranda" sounds as fresh as ever, having lost absolutely none of its luster. This is music that exists in its own time, an eternal realm outside of trends and hype cycles.

Ulla & Ultrafog - It Means A Lot [Motion Ward]

Ulla Straus and Japanese producer Ultrafog team up for an album of sparse, skeletal ambient collages. On It Means A Lot, things tend to happen in quick spurts, which are followed by stretches of silence or near-silence. What emerges out of that silence tends to be careful and unassuming — little swirling granulated bits of guitar, breathy vocals, small glitches and spectral pads, all slowly oozing out of the music’s negative space at an unhurried pace.

Dialog - DOT 2 [DOT Records]

The second EP on Finland’s DOT label comes with four more perfectly crafted Rhythm & Sound styled dubs. The basslines are heavy and nimble, the rhythm is skanking in all the right places, the chords are deep and seductive, the vocal performances expressive and mournful. Over the past two decades, many have tried their hands at this sound, but few have done it as well as it’s been done here.

Maria Bertel - Monophonic [Relative Pitch Records]

Monophonic is an album of twisted, organic feedback exercises. Distorted folds of sound sputter and ache, twist and turn as they are forcefully pushed up against their limits. And yet, for all that sonic violence there is still a strong sense of lightness and playfulness here, for example on "Rotundity", where the feedback sounds like a mix between a roaring engine and a guttural animal voice, constantly morphing and moving as if it were some kind of living being.

Felix K - Sudbaism [Nullpunkt]

On Sudbaism, Felix K dives deep into the depths of his singular sound with an album of pitch-black breakbeat techno-bass abstractions. The basslines are massive, the drums are clangy and driven by slow and lurching rhythmic structures; the synths imbued with a dusky, metallic shimmer. This prevailing sense of darkness is occasionally contrasted with bouts of lightness in the form of warm pads or emotive arps, like on "Love". Although my favorite moments here are the ones that go all in on the gnostic darkness, like on "Transport", which sounds like a bizarro dub techno track emerging straight out of the deepest depths of hell.

Specter - Brutus 2009-2020 [Sound Signature]

The low-profile Detroit legend Specter's latest EP is a tribute to his late dog Brutus. These are slow and extended tracks with a bare and reduced rhythm section, primarily expressing themselves through masterful synth programming that carries a pure Motor City DNA with it. Just listen to the interplay between the bassline and pads on "Birth", the weird FM sequence on "The Spirit", the piano on "The Death", or the strings and keys on "The Ascension".

Pub - Process The Wise [Ampoule]

Process The Wise is the reclusive Scottish producer Pub's first full album since 2012. It's classic Pub, full of gorgeous early 00's IDM arps, soft, watery pads and melodic basslines that channel the singular child-like, whimsical melancholy that has defined his music for almost three decades now.

DJ Nigga Fox - Chá Preto [Príncipe]

The Príncipe crew is getting downright weird on Chá Preto, a record full of weird, dissonant sounds and quirky, deliberately sloppy rhythms. This tonal and rhythmic weirdness is contrasted with an oddly clean and tidy textural and timbral palette, creating an ambiguous, but fascinating mix of calmness and unease.

Skee Mask - ISS010 [Ilian Tape]

ISS010 is the best Skee Mask in a while, a quality double-pack of dubby up-tempo tech house hits. "Dub Schneider" is a fun, chord-driven number with skittish hats, quirky resonant chords and bumpy low-end. "Matchpoint" brings heavy bass pressure over deep-fried stabs, while "Stomp" throws glistening delayed chord fragments over flanged percussion. Finally, the closer "Small Stone S700" goes mega-deep with swinging rhythms and calmly phased pads.

GiGi FM - Movimiento [Sea~rène]

These tracks remind me of the Canadian Cobblestone Jazz techno-jazz trio, insofar as they are surprisingly jazzy for technically being straight-forward 4/4 techno tracks. "Gabriella" puts a lengthy and unusually expressive piano improvisation over lean, percussive techno drums. "Tempelhof" is dubbier, with a nice gritty bassline, shimmery synth fragments and great use of saturated 909 rides. "Awakening The World's Heart" goes all atmospheric with wide, glassy pads, little arp fragments and loose and swinging drums, while “Lucid Dreaming” is a deep driver with resonant, 303-ish arps and shimmery swathes of pads.

LNRDCROY - Contact-E [Clone]

Between 2014 and 2016, Canadian producer LNRDCROY released a streak of solid lo-fi house records. After a long pause, he's now returned with his first record in eight years, and it's a real doozy. Contact-E comes with four killer ambient techno tracks that veer between classic IDM tropes and more modern lo-fi influences, combining lushness with just the right amount of dirt and energy.

Talismann - Kliniek 2 [Talismann]

Talismann (aka Makam) continues to explore the outer edges of techno on his latest EP Kliniek 2. "De La Tourette" flirts with some seriously bad taste by channeling terrible mid-90s hard trance. But somehow, the cheese factor is kept in that sweetspot where things sound both ridiculous and ascetic, creating something that sounds quite weird out of well-worn tropes.

The second track "Lolabo" keeps things trance-y, albeit in a more stripped down and purist fashion, with a killer deep roller of a drifting bassline, a single hypnotic riff and a few occasional strings. "Tuco" comes with a rave riff that is phased and warbled to the point of disintegrating, evoking a deranged nightmare version of classic hardcore where nothing quite sounds like what it should sound like, again pushing and distorting classic tropes to the point where they give way to something more novel and interesting.

Olof Dreijer - Coral [AD 93]

After surprise-dropping one of the best EPs of last year, Olof Dreijer's new EP follows up with a similar sound, although subtly nudged into a more ambient direction. "Flora" is a gentle, slowly flowing track with percussive plucked string sounds, warbling haunted pad lines and thick bass licks. On the flipside, "Hazel" is downright cinematic, creating its own fantastical electro-acoustic world of sound in which it is not clear what is acoustic and what is synthesized.

Laurel Halo - Octavia / Jessica Ekomane - Manifolds [Portraits GRM]

Laurel Halo goes spectral on Portraits GRM with an extended DSP-treated piece that starts out with glistening, melancholic string harmonics that — out of nowhere, and only briefly once — turn into a pitch-gliding spectral waterfall, almost making you question if you really just heard what you’ve heard. On the flipside, Jessica Ekomane's "Manifolds" is a dissonant, haptic piece that morphs through a number of textural landscapes, recalling 80s era IRCAM / GRM in a way that is immediately satisfying.